Faerûn ( / f eɪ ˈ r uː n / fay- ROON ) is a fictional continent and the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms . It is described in detail in several editions of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (first published in 1987 by TSR, Inc. ) with the most recent being the 5th edition from Wizards of the Coast , and various locales and aspects are described in more depth in separate campaign setting books. Around a hundred novels , several computer and video games and a film use Faerûn as the setting.
82-479: Economically and technologically, Faerûn is comparable to Western Europe during the late Middle Ages , giving most new players using this campaign setting an intuitive grasp of the way the society functions. Gunpowder, known here as the magical substance smoke powder and different in its composition from historical gunpowder, is starting to make an appearance, but much of the armament is still dominated by pre-gunpowder weaponry such as swords, spears, and bows. Most of
164-487: A paperback reprint of the first edition was released. Oriental Adventures contains rules for ten character classes and three races to be used in place of standard AD&D classes and races. The book presents new versions of the barbarian (here a warrior of the steppes, or a dweller of the forest or jungle) and monk , as well as new classes such as the ninja, kensai, wu-jen , and shukenja. Kensai are weapons masters who "seek to perfect their weapons technique to
246-680: A character's immediate family and ancestors, determines family honor and status, and also provides characters with their birthrights. Also included are detailed rules for karate and other martial arts styles, which enable a Dungeon Master to create new styles of martial arts and techniques using a range of available options. All characters may study martial arts, provided they can find masters to teach them; monks and shukenja start their adventuring lives with some martial arts training. Each character class also has its own unique ki powers, which become more effective as characters advance through each level. The original Oriental Adventures includes
328-524: A cover identity; a ninja must be careful to keep his identity secret, as loss of honor (and sudden death) may occur if the PC is unmasked. The other classes introduced in the book are the sohei , the bushi (peasant warriors), the samurai , and the yakuza. The three new character races are the korobokuru (roughly equivalent to dwarves , without their tempers and greediness), the hengeyokai (intelligent animal beings that are able to shape-change into human form), and
410-644: A lengthy section of background information for the fantasy setting known as Kara-Tur . Kara-Tur was later made a continent of Abeir-Toril . TSR went on to produce eight adventure modules using the Oriental Adventures rules and the Kara-Tur setting. Gary Gygax intended to incorporate the material from Oriental Adventures into revised versions of the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide , but left TSR shortly after announcing
492-835: A mild, generally humid climate, influenced by the North Atlantic Current . Western Europe is a heatwave hotspot, exhibiting upward trends that are three-to-four times faster compared to the rest of the northern midlatitudes. Western European languages mostly fall within two Indo-European language families: the Romance languages , descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire ; and the Germanic languages , whose ancestor language ( Proto-Germanic ) came from southern Scandinavia . Romance languages are spoken primarily in
574-491: A significant number of references from one section of the book to another and everything is very linked." However, Foussat admitted that the book excited him and he had his Japanese weapons ready for play. In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games , game critic Rick Swan admitted that the game was heavily derivative of AD&D but noted that this publication has "a unique design approach that skillfully integrates game mechanics with background material. It's
656-476: A vast region of steppe that separates it from Kara-Tur . In the north are massive glaciers, named Pelvuria and Reghed, and a region of tundra . South of the continent, separated by the Great Sea, is a sub-tropical land called Zakhara. To the northwest, Faerûn is a region of wilderness, difficult winter weather, hordes of orcs, and barbarous human tribes. This region is generally referred to as "The North". It
738-445: A vivid setting and a fascinating set of rules." Swan enjoyed the character generation process, commenting, "The resulting characters are richly textured, clearly motivated, and a lot of fun to play." Hower, Swan warned that " Oriental Adventures is not for beginners ... a familiarity with AD&D is presumed, and a general understanding of Oriental culture and traditions is helpful." Swan also noted that this product, published in 1985,
820-470: A wide variety of locations, each with its own hazards and potential rewards for the participants. Likewise, the region that the players explore can determine what types of monsters they will face, which famous individuals they will encounter, and what types of missions they assume. Besides the exterior coastline to the west and south, the most dominant feature on the continent is the Sea of Fallen Stars. This
902-781: Is a mostly-untamed region that lies between the large Anauroch desert in the east and the expansive Sea of Swords to the west with a mountain range at the far north called the Spine of the World. This area contains huge wooded regions such as the High Forest and the Lurkwood , the frozen Icewind Dale to the north, and an untamed region called the Savage Frontier, which includes the Silver Marches (Luruar). The coastal region
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#1732780729925984-735: Is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union . In this thesaurus, the countries of Europe are grouped into sub-regions. The following countries are included in the sub-group Western Europe: The Western European and Others Group is one of several unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from different regional groups. The European members of
1066-779: Is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification . The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories. In the UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as Western Europe: The CIA classifies seven countries as belonging to "Western Europe": The CIA also classifies three countries as belonging to "Southwestern Europe": EuroVoc
1148-516: Is an irregular inland sea that keeps the neighboring lands fertile and serves as a major trade route for the bordering nations. Next in significance is the Shaar, a broad region of grasslands in the south that, together with a large body of water called the Lake of Steam, separates the area around the inland sea from the coastal nations at the southern edge of the continent. To the east, Faerûn is bordered by
1230-643: Is by Raven Mimura , with interior art by: Matt Cavotta , Larry Dixon , Cris Dornaus , David Martin , Raven Mimura, Wayne Reynolds , Darrell Riche , Richard Sardinha , Brian Snoddy , and Arnie Swekel . When WotC published a revision of the 3rd edition D&D rules known as v3.5 in 2004, an official (but not 100% comprehensive) update of Oriental Adventures was published in Dragon #318 (April 2004), pp. 32–48. The book includes: seven playable new races, including nezumi , vanara , and three different types of spirit folk ; five new base classes, including
1312-575: Is called the Sword Coast, "a haven for adventurers". Here lie the "iconic locastions" of the city-state of Neverwinter and the large port city of Waterdeep. Undermountain is a vast dungeon crawl under the area of Waterdeep, rated among the "deadliest" and most iconic in the game. The Ten Towns are located within Icewind Dale with the Sea of Moving Ice at the northernmost place in known Faerûn. In
1394-648: Is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) fantasy roleplaying game . Each version of Oriental Adventures provides rules for adapting its respective version of D&D for use in campaign settings based on the Far East , rather than the medieval European setting assumed by most D&D books. Both versions of Oriental Adventures include example campaign settings. The original Oriental Adventures ( ISBN 0-88038-099-3 )
1476-682: The Arabian Nights setting Al-Qadim , are also on this continent. Maztica , home of a tribal, Aztec -like civilization is far to the west, across an Atlantic-like ocean called the Trackless Sea. The subterranean regions underneath Faerûn are called the Underdark . Faerûn includes terrain that is as varied as that of Europe , western Asia , and much of Africa is on our planet Earth . Role-playing campaigns in Faerûn can be set in
1558-843: The Carolingian Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism , enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. After the conquest of the Byzantine Empire , center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced
1640-637: The Carolingian Empire ), the division between Roman Catholic and Protestant became more important in Europe than that with Eastern Orthodoxy. In East Asia , Western Europe was historically known as taixi in China and taisei in Japan, which literally translates as the " Far West ". The term Far West became synonymous with Western Europe in China during the Ming dynasty . The Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci
1722-793: The East–West Schism divided Christianity into Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity . This split Europe in two, with Western Europe primarily under the Catholic Church , and Eastern Europe primarily under the Eastern Orthodox Church . Ever since the Reformation in the 16th century, Protestantism has also been a major denomination in Europe, with Eastern Protestant and Eastern Catholic denominations also emerging in Central and Eastern Europe . During
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#17327807299251804-476: The Oriental Adventures as #6 on the list of "Top 10 'Orange Spine' AD&D Hardcovers By Jeff Easley, saying "I'm guessing that if there is one book on this list a lot of folks don't own, it is this one, but that doesn’t mean this kind of epic 'in the clouds' duel between a samurai and a ninja isn't worth every penny!" In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground , RPG historian Stu Horvath noted
1886-640: The Roman Empire (both Western and Eastern ), and medieval " Christendom ". Beginning with the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery , roughly from the 15th century, the concept of Europe as "the West " slowly became distinguished from and eventually replaced the dominant use of "Christendom" as the preferred endonym within the area. By the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution ,
1968-811: The Roman Empire . The Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire controlled the two divergent regions between the 3rd and the 5th centuries. The division between these two was enhanced during late antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed , starting the Early Middle Ages . By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Greek or Byzantine Empire , survived and even thrived for another 1000 years. The rise of
2050-961: The U.S. President , Franklin D. Roosevelt , and the Premier of the Soviet Union , Joseph Stalin . Post-war Europe was divided into two major spheres: the Western Bloc , influenced by the United States , and the Eastern Bloc , influenced by the Soviet Union . With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain . This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and, later, Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in
2132-833: The United Kingdom . It was further revisited in 1954 at the Paris Conference , when the Western European Union was established. It was declared defunct in 2011 after the Treaty of Lisbon , and the Treaty of Brussels was terminated. When the Western European Union was dissolved, it had 10 member countries. Additionally, it had 6 associate member countries, 7 associate partner countries and 5 observer countries. The United Nations geoscheme
2214-492: The samurai , sohei , and shugenja; 17 new prestige classes; over one hundred new spells; and seventy-five new monsters, over a dozen of which (including five types of Naga) were given level adjustments for adapting them into playable races. The featured campaign setting of this edition is Rokugan , a campaign setting originally created for the game Legend of the Five Rings . The reviewer from Pyramid noted that while
2296-406: The 2nd edition AD&D rules. The book includes an honor system, in which honor points are lost when a character behaves poorly or damages the family name; the player must eventually stop playing that character, if such behavior continues. The personal honor of a character affects the honor of the character's family. The character's family background is also determined by a system which generates
2378-606: The CIA classification a little more liberally and including "South-Western Europe", would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. The Hague is the seat of government The climate of Western Europe varies from Mediterranean in the coasts of Italy , Portugal and Spain to alpine in the Pyrenees and the Alps . The Mediterranean climate of the south is dry and warm. The western and northwestern parts have
2460-664: The Companions of the Hall, Cowled Wizards, Cult of the Dragon, Drow houses (like Baenre and Do'Urden), Elk Tribe, Flaming Fist, The Four (Mirt the Moneylender, Durnan, Asper and Randal Morn), Harpers, Iron Throne, The Kraken, Moonstars, Red Wizards of Thay, Seven Sisters, Shadow Thieves, and Zhentarim. Vartha Do'Urden was the previous matron mother of House Do'Urden whose unexpected death allowed her daughter Malice to take control of
2542-572: The Golden (collectively called the Shining Lands ), Luiren, the land of Halflings, Ulgarth, the easternmost extent of Faerûn, and Veldorn, the land of monsters, as well as The Great Rift, a large, powerful nation of dwarves, within a titanic canyon The immense complex of caverns and passages that lie beneath many parts of the continent of Faerûn is known as the Underdark. It contains cities of
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2624-638: The Great Glacier dominate the landscape in blinding white. To the south are the equatorial jungles of Chult and the tropical coasts of Halruaa. It's bordered on the west by the Trackless Sea and on the east by the Endless Wastes and the Hordelands that separate it from Kara-Tur". Kara-Tur, which was the original setting of the D&;D Oriental Adventures campaign setting, and Zakhara , home to
2706-626: The Harpers, who protect the good-natured races and seek a balance between civilization and nature. The Harpers are opposed by evil organizations, including the Red Wizards of Thay and the nihilistic Cult of the Dragon . In the northern lands, the Zhentarim is an evil network seeking to dominate the region. Their efforts are being resisted by the Lords' Alliance, a council of knights that pursues
2788-599: The Realms. The wizards rebelled from the Egyptian-based Mulhorand, while their occupied land is somewhat reminiscent of India. However the best parallel to Thay may actually be Stygia, an evil land from Robert E. Howard's Conan stories". Tharsult is an island of unscrupulous traders in the Shining Sea. To the southwest lies along the great Chultan peninsula that juts out toward the west. The waters to
2870-450: The Sea of Swords. The west includes the city of Baldur's Gate (named for the great seafaring hero Balduran), the library-fortress of Candlekeep, both considered among "D&D's most iconic locations", the nations of Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan, the region of Western Heartlands and the elven stronghold of Evereska. These regions were the setting for the Baldur's Gate series of computer games. To
2952-836: The Seven Swords , Ochimo: The Spirit Warrior , Blood of the Yakuza , and Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw ) were released for first edition AD&D. The sixth module ( Ronin Challenge ) was released for the second edition, as was the seventh module ( Test of the Samurai ) which did not have the Oriental Adventures logo. The last three of these modules also had the Forgotten Realms logo. The Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms boxed set, also for Forgotten Realms,
3034-456: The Underdark. The northern Realms were less affected by the Spellplague, but during the 100-year gap between the third and fourth editions of the setting, it was revealed that the Netherese wizards of the city of Shade had eliminated the desert of Anauroch, returning the land to its pre-Fall state. The borders of some of the kingdoms were changed to reflect this. In addition to these changes, floating islands of earth known as 'earthmotes' appeared in
3116-414: The book seemed to be influenced "as much by lurid pulp stereotypes, Yellow Peril propaganda, and the lingering specter of European imperialism ... It's a kind of monolithic mush of fantasy 'Asianness' that verges on parody." TSR released several products with the Oriental Adventures logo. This includes a series of modules numbered OA1 to OA7, the first five of which ( Swords of the Daimyo , Night of
3198-420: The coastline of the Moonsea with the infamous Zhentil Keep, and the bitterly cold steppes of The Ride. Along the east coast of the Dragon Reach (a northern branch of the Sea of Fallen Stars) is a temperate region called The Vast, consisting of farmlands, forests and the Earthsea mountains. This area includes the city of Ravens Bluff, which for many years was home to the RPGA 's Living City role-playing campaign and
3280-409: The concepts of " Eastern Europe " and "Western Europe" were more regularly used. The distinctiveness of Western Europe became most apparent during the Cold War , when Europe was divided for 40 years by the Iron Curtain into the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc , each characterised by distinct political and economical systems. Prior to the Roman conquest, a large part of Western Europe had adopted
3362-416: The cultural and social background of the Orient." Costello concluded " Oriental Adventures can really stand on its own, with specialized game rules." In Issue 30 of the French games magazine Casus Belli , André Foussat warned "Playing AD&D in this new environment will require a major effort from the JDM (Japanese Dungeon Master) to integrate the entire rulebook (140 rather dense pages). There are
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3444-409: The elf-related drow including the infamous Menzoberranzan and the ruins of Ched Nasad, as well as Maerdrimydra, Llurth Dreir and Sshamath; cities of duergar such as Gracklstugh and Dunnspeirrin; and almost unpronounceable cities of creatures called the kuo-toa , illithids , and beholders . When the third edition of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting was released in 2001, the designers took
3526-485: The exclusion of all else. They are deadly in combat, but cannot use magical weaponry because it detracts from the appreciation of their skill". Wu-jen are spellcasters who must strictly follow their personal taboos to avoid losing all of their spell powers. Shukenja are clerics who become punished if they kill enemies too often. A ninja character must take one of the other classes as well as the ninja class. In keeping with their secret nature, ninja use their normal class as
3608-415: The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. West Germany peacefully absorbed East Germany , in the German reunification . Comecon and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had been part of the Soviet Union regained full independence. In 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed between Belgium , France , Luxembourg , the Netherlands and
3690-595: The followers of this region. These are comparable to mythological deities of the ancient Greek pantheon and cover a range of ethical beliefs and portfolios of interests. Faerûn is home to many non-human creatures of varying degrees of civilization or barbarism. Among these are several different races of dwarves , gnomes , halflings and elves , as well as goblins , orcs , lizardmen , ogres , various giants , and even dragons . There are several organized alliances in Faerûn, with each pursuing their particular agenda. A few are dedicated to decent and honest causes, such as
3772-448: The four decades of the Cold War , the definition of East and West was simplified by the existence of the Eastern Bloc . A number of historians and social scientists view the Cold War definition of Western and Eastern Europe as outdated or relegating. During the final stages of World War II , the future of Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta Conference , between the British Prime Minister , Winston Churchill ,
3854-563: The game, Oriental Adventures was the first official supplement devoted entirely to roleplaying in a non-Western setting. Oriental Adventures also introduced a new game mechanic to Dungeons & Dragons ; it was the first official supplement to include rules for non-weapon proficiencies . Every character is expected to possess proficiencies in the noncombat arts with skills such as calligraphy, etiquette, animal handling, iaijutsu (fast draw), and bowyer . Both non-weapon proficiencies and non-European settings were explored in more detail in
3936-402: The group are: In addition, Australia , Canada , Israel and New Zealand are members of the group, with the United States as observer. Using the CIA classification strictly would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. All figures based on the projections for 2018 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs . Using
4018-483: The highest gross domestic product in Europe and the largest financial surplus of any country, Luxembourg has the world's highest GDP per capita, and Germany has the highest net national wealth of any European state. Switzerland and Luxembourg have the highest average wage in the world, in nominal and PPP , respectively. Norway ranks highest in the world on the Social Progress Index . Oriental Adventures Oriental Adventures (abbreviated OA )
4100-446: The honor system was a good touch, and that the real strength of the new martial arts system was that the gamemaster was now able to construct any number of new styles of combat. Shepherd compared Oriental Adventures to rival role-playing game Bushido , and felt that Oriental Adventures was a better choice as a game system. Shepherd concluded by giving the game an excellent rating of 9 out of 10, saying, "By remaining compatible with
4182-416: The house. The sub-continent of Faerûn is set in the northern hemisphere of the planet Toril , or, more formally, "Abeir-Toril". The continent has a "landmass of approximately nine and a half million square miles". Faerûn is the western part of an unnamed supercontinent that is quite similar to real-world Afro-Eurasia . Within the setting, "sub-arctic extremes chill its northern reaches, where ice sheets like
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#17327807299254264-473: The interests of the northern cities. Other organizations of Faerûn include the magical Seven Sisters, a band of assassins called the Fire Knives, a group of ruthless thieves operating out the city of Waterdeep named Xanathar's Guild, and the mysterious Shades—the returning survivors of the long-fallen Netheril empire. Faerûn is home to a large and diverse pantheon of deities, including: Numerous organizations of different types operate throughout Faerûn, including
4346-531: The last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address on 5 March 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri : From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe . Warsaw , Berlin , Prague , Vienna , Budapest , Belgrade , Bucharest and Sofia ; all these famous cities and
4428-416: The module Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden , the titular Frostmaiden Auril makes her home on an island in this sea. Deep inland are the ancient dwarven citadels of Mithral Hall, Citadel Felbarr and the largest of the three, Citadel Adbar, which was featured in the Legacy of the Drow series of novels. This area is one of the most popular regions for role-playing campaigns set in Faerûn, and has been
4510-427: The newly developed La Tène culture . As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek -speaking eastern provinces, which had formed the highly urbanised Hellenistic civilisation , and the western territories, which in contrast largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east–west division of
4592-412: The north are named the Shining Sea, a body bounded by Calimsham to the north and joined to the Lake of Steam through the Straits of Storm. To the south of the land is the Great Sea. Located in this area are Chult, Lapaliiya, Samarach, Tashalar, and Thindol. South of the Sea of Fallen Stars is a region somewhat isolated by the Lake of Steam in the west, and the vast length of the Shaar. It is bordered along
4674-432: The opportunity to redesign the continent of Faerûn. Its size was reduced slightly to remove 'empty space' from the map and the Chultan Peninsula was moved several hundred miles north, reducing the size of the empty grassplain known as the Shaar. Additionally, the designers slightly adjusted the projection of the map to better reflect the curvature of the planet. There was no in-universe explanation given for these changes as it
4756-430: The population of Faerûn consists of farmers, who are organized somewhat loosely in a semi- feudal system . There are also several notable cities and trade between nations is common, as in the Renaissance era. Likewise, there are regions where more barbaric tribes and customs persist. Home to many different cultures, "[i]t is an eclectic land, rich in history, that has witnessed the rise and fall of kingdoms, forever bearing
4838-528: The populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. Although some countries were officially neutral , they were classified according to the nature of their political and economic systems. This division largely defines the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe . The world changed dramatically with
4920-431: The project. Oriental Adventures was TSR's biggest seller in 1985. Little, if any, material from Oriental Adventures was incorporated into the AD&D 2nd Edition core books, and Oriental Adventures itself was never revised for a 2nd Edition. In Issue 74 of White Dwarf , Ashley Shepherd felt that this game was "a completely new version of AD&D ", adding "The old stand-bys of the AD&D system are still in
5002-408: The protection of regional and minority languages are recognised political goals in Western Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages set up a legal framework for language rights in Europe. Western Europe is one of the richest regions of the world. Germany has
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#17327807299255084-425: The relatively peaceful Western Heartlands and the more savage North along the Sword Coast. The village of Daggerford lies along the Shining River along the Sword Coast. The sunken city of Northkeep was the first city built around the Moonsea by humans. Miyeritar and Ilythiir were ancient elven empires. The western part of Faerûn includes the nations south of Waterdeep and north of the Shining Sea , that border along
5166-476: The rest of AD&D , [designer] Dave Cook has written an excellent set of rules which should be very popular. Oriental Adventures has even persuaded me to start playing AD&D again." In the November 1986 edition of Asimov's Science Fiction , Matthew J. Costello noted that although based on AD&D , this product "aspires to more than supplemental status. It contains a tremendous amount of information about bushi , samurai and ninja , not to mention
5248-447: The rules, but the elements have been intelligently modified to produce something that is far greater than the sum of its parts." Shepherd liked the new character classes, noting that the monk was in its proper Eastern context, and that the ninja was the best version Shepherd had seen. Shepherd also liked the new skill system of proficiency slots, and felt these should be extended to all of AD&D , not just this setting. Shepherd felt that
5330-428: The scars of centuries of war." A major difference between the setting and Earth is the presence of magic . The system of magic is subdivided into divine and arcane categories, with the former empowered by a Faerûnian deity , and the latter by rituals or innate abilities which manipulate a mystical field called the Weave , the source of magical energies on Toril . Faerûn has a pantheon of deities that are worshipped by
5412-426: The scenes by spiritual witches, and it is the location of the Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer computer game. The lands of Damara and Vaasa were described in a 1989 publication, FR9, The Bloodstone Lands . This area formed the setting for the " H Series " of modules that used the Battlesystem rules to resolve battles. Secomber is a small town of nearly 1,500 that acts as a de facto border town between
5494-411: The sea extends far to the west, ending close to the Western Heartlands. To the south, the Vilhon Reach forms a second arm leading to the southwest. The notable areas within this region include Chondath, Cormyr, the Dragon Coast, Hlondeth, the Pirate Isles and Prespur, Sembia (and its largest city of Selgaunt), Sespech, Turmish, and the Shining Plains. Along the eastern expanses of the Sea of Fallen Stars,
5576-410: The setting for a number of popular role-playing video games . Another city is Mirabar, the mining center for the Sword Coast. North of the Sea of Fallen Stars is a region that stretches from the wide Anauroch desert in the west to the eastern edge of the inland Moonsea , in the northern region of the continent. It is a region of contrasts, with the forested Dalelands, the desert wastes of Anauroch,
5658-404: The site of the Living City series of game modules . The Dragonspine Mountains , which house the infamous Citadel of the Raven on their western slopes, is a mountain range northwest of the Moonsea. Northeastern Faerûn is a remote area that begins in the cold, forbidding lands along the great ice sheets and continues south toward the northeastern shores of the Sea of Fallen Stars. It is bordered on
5740-402: The skies above Faerûn and the continent of Maztica across the western ocean vanished along with the Faerûnian colonies on its east coast. Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe . The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean world,
5822-399: The south by the Great Sea; to the west by the Chultan peninsula region, and in the east by Luiren. The south includes the Border Kingdoms, Dambrath, the Great Rift, Halruaa, the Lake of Steam, and The Shaar. South and east of the grassy plains is an area known as the Shaar, along the shores of the Great Sea opposite the land of Zakhara. The region includes the lands of Durpar, Estagund and Var
5904-500: The south of Chondath and Chessenta. Thay is a magocracy ruled by the Red Wizards which was described in the 1988 publication FR6: Dreams of the Red Wizards . The nation has made multiple attempts to invade neighboring countries and following a civil war, the lich Szass Tam became Thay's leader. Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons , highlighted that "Thay doesn't have an obvious real-world derivation like some of
5986-606: The southern and central part of Western Europe, Germanic languages in the northern part (the British Isles and the Low Countries ), as well as a large part of Northern and Central Europe . Other Western European languages include the Celtic group (that is, Irish , Scottish Gaelic , Manx , Welsh , Cornish and Breton ) and Basque , the only currently living European language isolate . Multilingualism and
6068-486: The spirit folk (humanoids whose life force is linked to the well-being of a specific location). The book draws on the history of China, Korea, and Japan, and includes information on families, clans, caste, and honor. The original Oriental Adventures introduced two major innovations to the AD&;D system. Although previous TSR publications, such as Deities & Demigods , had touched on using non-European settings for
6150-463: The water forms a long arm that travels to the east before turning south to become the Alamber Sea. The northern nations of this mysterious area are termed the "Unapproachable East" and the southern nations the "Old Empires" in campaign setting publications. This region includes the nations of Aglarond, Ashanath, Altumbel, Mulhorand, Murghôm, Thay and Unther. Chondalwood is a long, forested region to
6232-463: The west by the mountain-hemmed land of Vaasa and stretches east to the vast steppes of the Hordelands, with its largest city of Winterkeep. This region also contains the lightly populated kingdom of Damara, the druidic forests of the Great Dale, the coastal kingdom of Impiltur, the fallen and once evil empire of Narfell, and the trading nation of Thesk. Mystical Rashemen is a land ruled from behind
6314-669: The west in the vast ocean called the Trackless Sea is a multitude of islands, collectively named the Nelanther Isles. Other island kingdoms include the gnomish realm of Lantan, the country of Nimbral and, further west, the Moonshae Isles. With the exception of the Shining Plains, the interior lands of Faerûn lie along the irregular coastline of the western Sea of Fallen Stars. In the north the Dragonmere arm of
6396-464: Was based on the first edition of AD&D whereas TSR had published the second edition of AD&D in 1989, "so the referee will have to make a few adjustments when switching between systems." Swan concluded by giving the game an excellent rating of 3.5 out of 4, saying, "For experienced players, Oriental Adventures is a delight. A sophisticated, challenging game, it's the best Eastern-flavored RPG ever published." Scott Taylor of Black Gate listed
6478-597: Was billed as an expansion for Oriental Adventures . Also released for second edition was a volume for the Monstrous Compendium series. In order to make Oriental Adventures compatible with the 3rd edition of D&D published in 2000, a second version of Oriental Adventures ( ISBN 0-7869-2015-7 ) was written by James Wyatt and published by Wizards of the Coast in October 2001. The cover art
6560-583: Was classified as a retcon . The fourth edition of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting , released in 2008, saw major changes to the geography of Faerûn and the world of Abeir-Toril . Due to a magical cataclysm known as the Spellplague, the southern parts of Faerûn were devastated. Chult became an island detached from the mainland, the kingdom of Halruaa was utterly destroyed, and parts of the Sea of Fallen Stars drained into
6642-697: Was one of the first writers in China to use the Far West as an Asian counterpart to the European concept of the Far East . In Ricci's writings, Ricci referred to himself as "Matteo of the Far West". The term was still in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Christianity is the largest religion in Western Europe. According to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center , 71.0% of Western Europeans identified as Christians. In 1054,
6724-531: Was written by Gary Gygax , David "Zeb" Cook , and François Marcela-Froideval , and published in 1985 by TSR, Inc. as a 144-page hardcover for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ( AD&D ) 1st edition rules. The book was edited by Steve Winter , Mike Breault , Anne Gray , and Thad Russell. The book's cover art was by Jeff Easley , with interior illustrations by Roger Raupp , James Holloway , Easley, and Dave Sutherland . In 1999,
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